Christofer Costes, a French inventor who created a machine that turns plastic waste into fuel, poses with his invention in Puget-Theniers, France, December 14, 2018. Picture taken December 14, 2018. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

We repeat this information today, because of the potential significance of these discoveries and to continue to raise awareness of environmental issues that face the planet.

An inventor from southern France has developed a machine that breaks down plastic into a liquid that can be used as fuel.

The ‘Chrysalis’ machine creates fuel by feeding bits of plastic into a 450 degrees Celsius reactor and churns out liquid composed of: 65% diesel that can be used for generators or boat motors, 18 percent petrol for heating or for powering lamps, 10 percent gas for heating, and 7 percent carbon that can be used for crayons or colorants.

The developers hope to create a container-size version of the machine by mid-2019, which can churn out 40 litres of fuel per hour using a process called pyrolisis (decomposing the plastic with high heat) which breaks up the plastic molecules and transforms them into lighter hydrocarbons.

Every year, about 260 million tonnes of plastic is produced. U.N. figures show eight million tonnes of plastic – bottles, packaging and other waste – enter the ocean each year, killing marine life and entering the human food chain. Conservationists have warned that plastic pollution in the oceans could outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050.